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World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs

Not.AI

Learned
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Messages
305
One of the key tenets of Ascension is that reality is by consensus: if you could convince enough people that yes, you CAN shoot fireballs then reality would shift into people being able to shoot fireballs from their hands. But doing so would be next to impossible and not just because of all the other wizards coming around to slap your shit because they disagree with the idea that people should be able to shoot fireballs from their hands.

There was a famous Greg Egan novel on this subject. In it, by publishing a theory of physics that enough people believe, it becomes the laws of physics and determines what's possible in the world. (Which happens by the end.)

Novel is called Distress. From 1995.

Edit. There were a couple other novels where this was a central plot point, I recall. Trying to remember...
 
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Delterius

Arcane
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Dec 12, 2012
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Entre a serra e o mar.
One of the key tenets of Ascension is that reality is by consensus: if you could convince enough people that yes, you CAN shoot fireballs then reality would shift into people being able to shoot fireballs from their hands. But doing so would be next to impossible and not just because of all the other wizards coming around to slap your shit because they disagree with the idea that people should be able to shoot fireballs from their hands.

There was a famous Greg Egan novel on this subject. In it, by publishing a theory of physics that enough people believe, it becomes the laws of physics and determines what's possible in the world. (Which happens by the end.)
I'm watching a sci fi series where the big mystery is that scientists - physicists in particular - are committing suicide. One of the more poignant notes left behind is 'physics isn't real'. Can't shake the feeling of how terrible it must be to be a footsoldier of the 'Technocracy' in the middle of planeswar.
 

Caim

Arcane
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Messages
15,664
Location
Dutchland
One of the key tenets of Ascension is that reality is by consensus: if you could convince enough people that yes, you CAN shoot fireballs then reality would shift into people being able to shoot fireballs from their hands. But doing so would be next to impossible and not just because of all the other wizards coming around to slap your shit because they disagree with the idea that people should be able to shoot fireballs from their hands. The question of what reality should be like is the core conflict in Ascension, and it's not just about humans going up against the eldritch horrors trying to turn reality into their torture porn playground.
I think I understand the concept in theory. What I'll do now is read what sort of stories people tell in their campaigns. I can sort of imagine a videogame story about someone just getting into this world and learning the basics, but I can't put the core conflict of Mage into any specifics. It seems that the problem for a videogame is less so that magic is 'freeform' and more the CC part. If the devs put their foot down and decided what sort of paradigms the PC and all other setpieces work with and against then, well, they sorta strip the cool parts of playing an RPG. In any case every time I read through the wikias and other excerpts the more I want to see it made.
This is why the Void Engineer Mass Effect idea I pitched earlier might be the best solution: sure it might not be entirely in line with what Ascension is like, but at least it works.

That, or you're willing to go the Hollow Ones route and become a goth with an eclectic mix of magical implements. They're the masters of chaos magic, after all.

One of the key tenets of Ascension is that reality is by consensus: if you could convince enough people that yes, you CAN shoot fireballs then reality would shift into people being able to shoot fireballs from their hands. But doing so would be next to impossible and not just because of all the other wizards coming around to slap your shit because they disagree with the idea that people should be able to shoot fireballs from their hands.
There was a famous Greg Egan novel on this subject. In it, by publishing a theory of physics that enough people believe, it becomes the laws of physics and determines what's possible in the world. (Which happens by the end.)

Novel is called Distress. From 1995.

Edit. There were a couple other novels where this was a central plot point, I recall. Trying to remember...
After the Etherites left in a huff because the Technocracy approved of the Michelson-Morley experiment that disproved the existence of luminiferous aether the Etherites gave them one final kick in the balls by dropping quantum mechanics into the popular consciousness. Explicit and direct changes to the Consensus like this are rare in Ascension, but they happen.
 

RaggleFraggle

Ask me about VTM
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Mar 23, 2022
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1,042
In any case, Paradox Interactive isn’t going to mine it for video games because Vampire is the real money maker. Not that I would want to see it anyway, because I like modern conveniences like the internet and life-saving medicine. Also, the most recent edition has turned these guys into obviously psychotic leftards, to say nothing of how the next edition will handle it.

A freeform magic system probably wouldn’t be feasible, altho you could probably get creative with dialogues and puzzles. Otherwise there’s nothing stopping you from making a kitchen sink secret superhero game that explains all its shenanigans with the same “powered by imagination” meta-origin. I don’t think we even have a superhero crpg, do we?
 

jungl

Augur
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
1,425
nah I enjoyed this indie shit vampire rpg more then bloodlines. Can't remember if you play as a vampire or slayer. The game starts you off at a pier in middle of the night. The combat is turn based and I think it was made by russians. Bloodlines is a overrated storyfag game.
Now i'm curious. What game?
Im trying to find it but no hope with google. Maybe someone else played it. I remember it had adventure game elements the game starts you off at a pier in middle of night. Combat is turn based like final fantasy. You get progressively better weapons like clubs to crowbars think even chainsaw or at least one of the bosses had one.
 

whydoibother

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Messages
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bulgaristan
Codex Year of the Donut
Xbox event will be tomorrow. I think there is chance that VtmB 2 will showed. Or it will be at Renegade Con
It wasn't. They showed only 4 games (Minecraft spin off, new Forza, new Arkane multiplayer shooter, new DMC style rhythm game), and a new expansion for Elder Scrolls online.
That's all, not even a few indies or third party ports to pad things. No Avowed, either.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,800
A rare Glassdoor review for The Chinese Room is positive for the company but seems down on what's possibly Bloodlines 2

Former Employee, less than 1 year
Great place to work
Jan 11, 2023 - 3D Animator

Pros

Great company culture Nice people

Cons

Their in house IP s seem generally more fun than the work for hire

Maybe this person just isn't an RPG fan or maybe it's just accurate to state that the game they have more freedom on is less stressful to work on than the one where they have to adhere to a tight schedule, and it has nothing to do with game quality. :M
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
here's your kuei-jin bro
screenshot-20230129-1rkety.png
 

RaggleFraggle

Ask me about VTM
Joined
Mar 23, 2022
Messages
1,042
In first and second edition books like A World of Darkness (1e and 2e) and Dark Alliance: Vancouver, the East Asian vamps generally followed the same vampirism rules as the Western and African ones. They even had a similar origin myth where they claimed descent from the deity Susanoo. I don’t know why this was changed with the release of KotE, but it was a retcon (as with any long-running IP with many writers, those accumulate). V5 retconning KotE is a retcon of a retcon, if that makes any sense.
 

Modron

Arcane
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
10,044
If someone had locked the grimoire pre-release thread until we got something "concrete" we would have missed out on 10 years of pure joy.
 

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